- Hello, Dan! Could you please introduce your band: when was it formed and what is the current line-up?- Greetings! Horrified initially started as a studio project for myself, which I recorded our first release with the help of a good friend I met at university. The project then evolved into a “real” band in late 2013. The current lineup consists of: Dan Alderson, Rob Hindmarsh, Dan Hughes & Matthew Henderson.

- In 2014 you released your debut Full-Length "Descent into Putridity". How can you describe the music on this album? - The music is very rooted in the classic “89 - 93 OSDM” sound, musically it is a meeting ground of US and Euro style death metal, taking the riffing style of bands such as Morbid Angel and Gorguts and infusing them with the raw savagery and HM2 fueled filth of the classic Swedish death metal innovators. A lot of people compare the album to the Dutch scene as well (Asphyx, Pestilence, Morgorth, Sinister)

thanks to my vocal approach on the album, which is very much in the Martin Van Drunen school.

- The artwork looks pretty old-school. Was it your concept or does it belong to your artist, Vincent Helmkamp? What can you say about the cover's creation process in general? - I allowed Vincent full artistic reign for the artwork, which I believe worked brilliantly for the album. I was blown away by the first sketches, it was great to see his interpretation of the lyrics I sent him for the album’s title track and turn it into the art for the release. The cover reflects the music and the philosophies found on the album perfectly, in terms of sonic and musical content. It’s stripped down, black and white and encapsulates the morbidity of the human condition, which is explored on a mental and physical level with the album’s lyrics.

- What can you say about the production part of the album? You also did the mixing of "Descent into Putridity". How long did it take you to polish the material till its final version?- The album’s mixing was a lonesome and and time costly investment. It was a mix I cut my teeth on as an engineer, I recorded the album to be used for my final major project in my second year of my music production degree. It took around a month to mix, some weeks were 8 hour days monday - saturday. I did the best master I

could and handed it in, with the hand in I sent it to Raul at Memento Mori, who then replied with a record deal for the release. At the time I intended the album to sound as authentic as possible for the time period we worshiped so much at that stage of the band’s existence.

- How satisfied are you with your current label, Memento Mori? Did you have any other offers? - Memento Mori was the only label I was in talks with during the album’s creation. The label provided the perfect introduction to the underground, and secured the album some nice press. It has provided us with some excellent opportunities, including a gig in our capital city of London in March. We are also honoured to be taking part in 2015’s rendition of Gothenburg DeathFest, which was only secured thanks to the promotion offered by Memento Mori. Raul is a great guy to work with, passionate and he truly cares about the releases on his label. I was offered art, mastering, distribution etc for the album. Which is something I had never experienced before this release. Overall, Memento Mori was probably the perfect label for the release.

- What are the usual topics raised in your songs? Do you have any special source of your inspiration?- Mental Illness and personal trauma.

- How often do you play live? Being a young band, is it difficult for you to find promoters for your concerts or to get into any tour?- When we first started we rarely gigged, hell we only played one gig before the album came out on Memento Mori haha. Once the album came out we have become much more active on the live front. We usually stick to two date weekend mini tours and one off shows, as this allows us to keep on top of our “real lives” as everyone is tied down with various real world responsibilities.

- Once you said that you are going to slightly change your sound and play-style. Tell us about the direction the band will be developing in. - Compositionally the new material is much more accomplished, progressive, epic, melodic and ultra diverse. I am VERY excited to debut this material live and then finally get it out there on record. Melodic black, epic doom and melo death influence was introduced to our already established sound, and the material just wrote itself. I wrote a lot of the material through a very traumatic period of my life, so the album’s music is also very sorrowful. Think of bands like Edge of Sanity and Garden of Shadows jamming with Horrendous, Dissection, Dismember etc and you might have the faintest idea of what we sound like now. Dark fantasy played a huge influence in the overall atmosphere of the music as well, which is reflected on in the lyrical content this time.

- When can we expect any new material to be released by Horrified? Besides a new full-length, do you plan any splits/EPs? - No other releases are planned yet, we hope to have the album finished by September, then we will worry about the release once is finished.

- What do you do in your free off music time? Do you have jobs, do you study? How do you spend your free time?- I’m currently in my final year of university, I work in a restaurant and I write music reviews for The Midlands Rocks, I am a massive fan of literature, especially dark fantasy and sci-fi. I also play / write in two other projects, Starborn and Anomander Rake. I mostly spend my free time with a head in a book and listening to music.

- Thank you for this interview, Dan! Would you like to say anything in the end? - Many thanks for the interview, I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who has supported the project so far and those who continue to support my music, I wouldn't be making music if I know I didn't reach out to people, cheers - Dan.